‘The Flash’ Full Trailer: Faster Than a Speeding Arrow [Updated]

UPDATE: A FULL TRAILER for The Flash is now online – WATCH IT Above, followed by an official synopsis, below.

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Synopsis

Barry Allen was just 11 years old when his mother was killed in a bizarre and terrifying incident and his father was falsely convicted of the murder. With his life changed forever by the tragedy, Barry was taken in and raised by Detective Joe West, the father of Barry’s best friend, Iris. Now, Barry has become a brilliant, driven and endearingly geeky CSI investigator, whose determination to uncover the truth about his mother’s strange death leads him to follow up on every unexplained urban legend and scientific advancement that comes along.

Barry’s latest obsession is a cutting edge particle accelerator, created by visionary physicist Harrison Wells and his S.T.A.R. Labs team, who claim that this invention will bring about unimaginable advancements in power and medicine. However, something goes horribly wrong during the public unveiling, and when the devastating explosion causes a freak storm, many lives are lost and Barry is struck by lightning. After nine months in a coma, Barry awakens to find his life has changed once again – the accident has given him the power of super speed, granting him the ability to move through Central City like an unseen guardian angel.

Though initially excited by his newfound powers, Barry is shocked to discover he is not the only “meta-human” who was created in the wake of the accelerator explosion – and not everyone is using their new powers for good. In the months since the accident, the city has seen a sharp increase in missing people, unexplained deaths and other strange phenomena. Barry now has a renewed purpose – using his gift of speed to protect the innocent, while never giving up on his quest to solve his mother’s murder and clear his father’s name. For now, only a few close friends and associates know that Barry is literally the fastest man alive, but it won’t be long before the world learns what Barry Allen has become…The Flash.

As Arrow – the hit TV show based on the DC superhero Green Arrow – wrapped up its season 2 tonight on The CW, fans of the comic book adaptation were treated to a teaser trailer of its upcoming spinoff, The Flash, starring Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, The Fasted Man Alive. Check it out above.

The teaser features Stephen Amell as The Arrow testing the aforementioned Fastest Living Man’s newfound super-speed powers. Can The Flash outrun one of The Arrow’s arrows? Apparently, yes, with relative ease.

The trailer doesn’t appear to be footage from the TV show itself; rather, it seems more like the sort of promo that’s just intended to give viewers an idea of what the show will be/look like and how The Flash will actually appear in action.

Visually, he looks pretty fantastic. He’s the right amount of blur and lightning streaks – very reminiscent of the comic books – with some occasional slowdown for the viewers’ benefit. Some people have bemoaned the almost thunder-esque sound effect that accompanies the pitter-patter of his feet, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear that in the TV series proper.

UPDATE: Here’s the original Arrow-themed teaser trailer for The Flash:

Speaking of bemoaning, while many fans have appreciated the look of The Flash’s costume – dark red though it is – others have pointed out that leather might not behoove a man running faster than the speed of sound (you know, what with all the chafing).

In fact, the only other costume that comes even close to matching it is the one from the original Flash series in 1990, and it had some problems of its own.

As for the tone of the teaser, it’s one of the most promising aspects about the show. Though Arrow bounces between fun and gritty – with great success – there’s often a sense of melancholy about the proceedings. This Flash teaser, on the other hand, looks lighthearted, colorful, joyful, and just plain fun, which is exactly what you should expect from an adaptation of Flash.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the show won’t be serious or raise the stakes from time to time. We already (basically) know that the series will revolve, to some degree, around Barry’s mother’s murder and the mystery “blur” that killed her.

The only question remaining now (for my money, anyway) is: Will The Flash grow stronger and faster as the show goes on, or is this the speed we can expect to see from the guy?

This was always one of the issues with the Justice League cartoons. In big fight scenes, The Flash could never go too fast because then the audience wouldn’t be able to see him, which sort of turned him into a funnier, slightly faster Superman without super strength, flight, hearing, x-ray vision, or ice breath.

What say you, Screen Ranters? Do you like the look of The Flash and his powers? Did the teaser trailer impress you? Drop us a line in the comments.

I loved it and thanked Stephen Amell for posting it for non-US viewers last night. Looks really good.

I’m also thinking, now The New 52 has introduced a black Wally West as a version of The Flash from the future wearing black and blue and since the Wests are “of colour” in this show, maybe we’ll have Wally coming in from the future in a future arc (season 2 or so)?

How is this in anyway Green Lantern all over again?
1 – its a 60 second promo, unfinished, and not actually part of the series
2 – IT IS A TV SHOW
3 – It doesn’t have the same budget as GL
4 – ITS A TV SHOW
5 – GET UP AND DO BETTER
6 – You belittling the trailer does nothing to impact my wanting to see it
7 – Your comments are un-warranted
8 – TROLLS like you have nothing better to do with their time than to bag out every promo/tv show/movie they see
9 – END OF RANT.

As usual, the reveal pics do it no justice. This actually makes me excited about the show! The special effects are better than I could have expected for a show on the CW and the costume is fitting (pun intended). I’ll be looking forward to the pilot episode.

Still hate the red backing on the chest symbol, I have no idea why it’s not white like it’s meant to be. It’ll be one of those things that continuously bothers me. The effects look cool, the ground shaking was a little reminiscent of MOS, but I think that’s the point. Looks like it’ll be a great show but damn that red chest symbol!

I think it’s just to make it stick out more, it just looks better IMO. It’d be one thing if the reds matched, but they don’t and that red backing sticks out like a sore thumb and not in a good way. I can see how some people can like it, but as you said: I’m all for the classics. Don’t get me wrong the suit is great (besides the leather, but that doesn’t bother me so much) and not just for a TV show. I could easily see it on the big screen, but if I do I hope we get the white backed chest symbol.

There is no way that this is a permanent costume. He had a knack for making things (Like Oliver’s mask) and I’m betting that he has problems with the suit burning up and tearing so he has to create a new one that will look much closer to the comic suit.

For his speed, I’m thinking that it will slowly start to get faster and faster and perhaps lead to him fully uncovering the Speed Force at the mid season finale. Perhaps he makes contact with Professor Zoom and that’s where he gets the new costume idea from.

But why change it? The reds don’t even match. It’s not like the Superman symbol, which was in dire need of an update, it’s The Flash. His chest emblem has always been a bolt on a white backing. I like the suit a great deal, it’s just that one detail that didn’t need to be changed.

I believe that he might change his costume after season one like how Oliver changed his bow and added a mask. And we will see Edward Thawne in the first episode, but don’t if he’ll appear as Reverse-Flash in season one, perhaps he’s the big villain similar to Malcolm Merlyn.

looking forward to this as much, if not more tha, i did back in ’90 when i heard about that show, and that is pre-internet. had to read about it in a newspaper. that my dinosaur brought to me in the mornings.

Can’t wait for this!! And to see FLASH battle all the baddies like Prof. ZOOM, Mirror Master, Capt. Cold, Heatwave and the Boomerang… well maybe not Boomerang :/
Gorilla Grod? Hope ya’ll are as AMPED as I am!!!!

I gotta say this though, not to be a hater but after watching The Batman costume reveal, Barry Allen’s costume looks like amateur hour. I know it’s a tv show with a small budget compared to Superman Vs Batman but just saying…

With how well things have been going with Arrow I’ll give this show a chance for sure.

The Flash stories can be quite dark so I’m hoping the writers draw on those darker stories for the show instead of what seems to be the trend with the promotional material. Because so far the promo material for Flash seems to be depicting him as a fresh faced kid with a nice smile and a wise cracking nature.

Pretty sure that’s what they were going for. From what I hear, the plan is for this to be a lot more colorful than Arrow in terms of characters, and more light-hearted, and I think that’s what it should be, cause that’s The Flash. He’s a wise-cracking, fun-loving guy. I think it would be fresh and arguably just what it needs to not only set it apart from Arrow, but superheroes in general these days.

Everyone wants to be gritty and “street-tough,” like Nolan’s Batman, Arrow, Wolverine, and that like, but Superheroes don’t always need to be so serious.

Flash could still have dark stories and such but deal with it in a different way since he wasn’t party to anything like the horrors Ollie saw and lived through on the island. That made Ollie cynical and that’s not who Barry is, he’s more optimistic as far as what we’ve seen of him so far on TV.